


He Was There.

by Jules1980



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:15:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28356852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jules1980/pseuds/Jules1980
Summary: A lost and desperate Robby finds help in an unexpected ally. It may not be the a good ally but he's desperate and just so damn tired of always being on his own.
Relationships: Robby Keene & Daniel LaRusso, Robby Keene & John Kreese, Robby Keene & Johnny Lawrence
Comments: 6
Kudos: 54





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Rynn for all her help!

“Keene, you have a visitor.”

“I do?” Robby looked at the guard, confused. He’d been at the detention center for a week now and other than five minutes with a public defender, he hadn’t had any visitors. He wasn’t sure if anyone even knew he was there. He’d hadn’t even called anyone when offered the chance. Who was he going to call? His mom was still in rehab and his dad…, well, Johnny hadn’t been likely to answer the phone before the riot, much less after. Daniel, well he knew better than to try that. He was on his own as he’d always been. “Who is it?”

“Do I look like your secretary? Get your ass down to the visitors’ room,” the guard snarled. 

Not yet knowing that he could refuse visitors and having already been on this guard’s bad side once, he quickly got to his feet and followed him.

He recognized the older man at the table from the picture hanging on the wall at the All-Valley Sports arena. 

“Why are you here?” he asked as he sat down. He’d never even seen the man in person much less met him.

“Hello, Robby,” Kreese said, ignoring his tone. “I know we haven’t met, but I also know that you know who I am, so we can cut out the formalities bullshit. I’m here because I wanted to see how you were holding up. Not too good, judging by those bruises, I’d say.”

“Who asked you to do that?” he replied, folding his arms across his chest.

“No one,” Kreese admitted. “But knowing that your Dad is busy with Diaz and your Sensei is too busy doing damage control for his image, I thought you might be feeling like the whole world has abandoned you right now.”

“Why would you care?” Robby’s eyes narrowed.

“Because I’m partially to blame for this,” he said. 

“What do you mean? Did you put Tory up to starting the fight the way you did for Hawk destroying the dojo?” Robby smirked.

“No, that fight wasn’t any of my doing. I don’t like your Sensei and I want to take him down a few pegs. I had a plan to do that, but I hadn’t counted on teenage love to interfere in those plans,” he replied. “If I had planned that fight, no way would I have planned it for a time that could take the two best fighters out permanently.”

“So what is your fault then?” Robby asked, interested now.

“Letting Johnny walk away from karate feeling like a loser. When your dad lost to LaRusso, neither of us handled it correctly…,”

“You tried to choke him out in the parking lot,” Robby interrupted.

“Yes,” Kreese replied, frankly. “I don’t deny my wrongdoings in this. But it wasn’t just that. It was that I let my pride get the better of me and when he quit, I let him. I knew what would happen to him. I knew how shitty his life was at home and how karate was the only thing he had that made him feel proud and powerful and I let him walk away feeling like a loser, knowing that would follow him the rest of his life.”

“No offense, but my dad can’t blame everything he’s done wrong on the fact that he lost a karate tournament. In high school."

“No, you’re right about that, but when he quit karate after that loss, he started quitting everything after one bad fight. College, jobs, being a dad, he dropped them all when he wasn’t getting the easy win. I had taught him combat but I hadn’t taught him how to fight. I should have given him a few days to cool off, then gone to talk to him, convince him to come back, and show him that losing to LaRusso was just one loss, that he needed to train harder and come back better. If I had done that, maybe he wouldn’t run every time anything gets hard,” Kreese admitted again. 

“What’s that got to do with me?” Robby asked. 

“I want to make it right. If I hadn’t let Johnny quit and wallow in his loss to that twerp LaRusso, his hurt pride wouldn’t have lasted for thirty years and that bad blood between them wouldn’t have dripped down on you and Diaz. You wouldn’t be here and Diaz wouldn’t be in a wheelchair,” he said. “It’s too late for Johnny, but maybe I can keep you from throwing away your life too.”

“Why do you care now?” 

“Because I’m at the age where one should probably start making amends for the mistakes in their life because you’re not going to be here much longer.”

“And you just suddenly came to that realization when my Dad’s dojo won the All Valley?” Robby asked, skeptically.

“No, but I knew my shot when I saw it. Now if you want my help, I’ll do whatever I can, but if you want to stick it out on your own, just say so,” Kreese replied. 

Robby silently considered this offer for a while. “Can you get me out of here? I couldn’t get bail because my mom is in rehab, Sid is too old to properly take care of me, my Dad didn’t show up for the hearing, and no foster home will take me with my record so the judge decided that even on the off chance that I could come up with the money, I had nowhere to go and they couldn’t turn a minor possible murderer out on the streets. I'm not asking you to actually let me live with you or anything. I have a safe place to go, just not one that the courts would approve of. Just tell them that I can live with you so I can get out? Sid will pay the bail. He told the court lawyer he would.”

“I’m not sure if the courts will go for that,” Kreese replied. “They usually want a legal guardian or official foster parent for that, but I’ll try. Can you contact your mother? If she gives her permission, we may can work something out with the courts.”

“I can call her, tell her to put you on her visitors’ lists so you can go see her about it,” Robby said. “She’ll agree. The court lawyer said she wanted to leave to come to get me. She’s in New Horizons in Malibu.”

“I’ll see what I can do and if all else fails, I’ll be back to visit you next Tuesday. If you want me too, that is,” Kreese said.

“Yeah, sure, if you want,” Robby replied, trying to sound as if it didn’t matter as if he wasn’t finally seeing a pinpoint of light in the horrible mess he’d made of his life. “It’s not like I’ve got anywhere else to be.”

Kreese chuckled and got to his feet, patting Robby’s shoulder. “Hang in there, Kid.”


	2. Chapter 2

The next time Kreese saw Robby, it was clear he’d been in another fight. He had fresh bruises around his eyes and cheek, was holding his ribs, and definitely favoring his left side when he walked.

“Been in another fight?” 

Robby shrugged, “Once my charges were found out, everyone decided to try their luck with the guy that may have killed someone with karate. Wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t want to do it five or six or at a time. The movies lie. They don’t all stand around in a circle waiting their turn to get their asses kicked by the karate guy.”

“Not usually,” Kreese laughed. “Just remember, it isn’t a competition. You’re allowed to fight as dirty as they are in here.”

“Fighting dirty is what got me in here,” Robby replied.

Kreese shrugged, “That’s true, but there is no crime in surviving in the meantime. Sit down, I have some news.”

“What is it?” he asked, curiously.

“I was able to see your mom and talk to your lawyer,” he replied. “They were able to give me temporary custody of you. She’s not thrilled, but it’s better than you being in here getting beat to hell every day.”

“Most anything would be better than that,” Robby smirked. “I’ll call her as soon as I’m out. If I get out.”

“The lawyer says she can get you a new bail hearing by the end of the week. She’s going to try to contact Johnny again, this time by mail and phone, but if he doesn’t show up, there is a good chance, I can be considered your guardian.”

“Why are you doing this?” Robby asked. “Honestly. I mean, maybe you do feel bad that my dad screwed his life up but bad enough to do all this? I don’t buy it.”

Kreese was quiet for so long Robby was sure he’d screwed his only chance at getting out before being sentenced to most of his life behind bars, just when he was about to apologize, Kreese spoke again, “Let’s just say that I owe a debt I can no longer repay and this is as close as I can get.”

“That must be one big debt,” he scoffed.

“No. But she was one great lady.”

* * *

Robby couldn’t keep from looking at the courtroom door every time it opened. He knew his lawyer was going to contact his dad, to let him know about the second bail hearing, but he had no way of knowing if she had contacted him and if she had, what his response had been. He knew Miguel was now awake, that was the only reason the judge had agreed to another bail hearing even with someone willing to step up and take guardianship of him. He couldn’t help hoping that since they knew now that Miguel was going to live, possibly even be okay, that his dad would take the morning to be at the courthouse for him. He’d broken down and tried to call Johnny the night before, but his phone went straight to voicemail. What he couldn’t know was that Johnny didn’t know about the hearing this time because he was in lockup himself, so when he didn’t show up, Robby had to fight back tears as he went to the bench to plead his case. 

He agreed to abide by all the terms of his release, like no leaving the state or country. What did they think he was going to do? Hop a flight to the Bahamas? He had no money to even get food, much less to run far enough away to hide from attempted manslaughter charges.

Then Kreese stood up and agreed to let him live with him, to make sure he made it all his court appearances and make sure that he kept his ass of trouble until then.

Robby couldn’t believe that it actually work, but the Judge agreed. He was set for release the next morning. Just one more night. He could keep his head down and mouth shut for one more night.

——-

Johnny had just gotten home from lockup. Sid had bailed him out. Again. He was tired and hungover and he really needed to get a shower and go to the hospital. Miguel had made it through the surgery, but they were still unsure it had been successful. He still hadn’t replaced his cell phone, but the blinking red light on his answering machine caught his attention. He was surprised the antiquated thing still worked. No one ever called his land line but occasionally Sid and of course, Kreese. But maybe Carmen or Rosa had called from the hospital? He went over and pushed the button.

_“Mr. Lawrence, this is Jade Albright with the county district attorney’s office. You are a hard man to reach, however, I am calling to tell you that your son, Robert Keene, has been granted bail. He will be released tomorrow morning at ten a.m. As he is a minor, his mother gave her consent for him to foster with a family friend…”_

Johnny had stopped listening after that. Shannon didn’t have any friends, just ex-boyfriends and none that he’d trust with Robby. He looked at the clock. It was just after nine. If he could get a cab, he’d get there just in time.

He called, then ran out to wait at the curb, so restless he would have started walking if he’d thought that would get him there faster.

“Come on, come on, come on,” he whispered under his breath as the cab sped through the streets. A pile up on the freeway had cost them twenty minutes that nearly had Johnny jumping out of the car and running.

Johnny was out of the car as soon as it stopped at the curb.

“Hey, you gotta pay me!” The cab driver called out. 

“Just wait,” Johnny called back. “I’ll need a ride back. I’ll pay you then.”

“HEY! HEY! Well, I’m keeping the meter running!” He yelled, seeing that Johnny wasn’t stopping.

Johnny raced through the parking lot. He stopped short, seeing Robby walking out of the gate. No, he was limping out of the gate. Johnny tried to remember if any of the students had mentioned Robby hurting his leg. He’d seen the surveillance tapes on the news, like the rest of the Valley had. Robby had only had a few cuts and bruises on his face when he’d ran. Not the mass of cuts, bruises, and broken nose he had now. Sid had told him this morning that Robby had been denied bail because Shannon was stuck in rehab, Sid was declared too old by the court, and he was nowhere to be found. He felt sick as he realized that those injuries had occurred in the detention center. He had let Robby down again.

He started to call out for Robby when he saw someone else walking towards the gate.

“I thought I told you that you were allowed to fight back,” John Kreese said, reaching out to pat Robby’s shoulder.

“You should see the other guys,” Robby smirked. 

Kreese laughed. “We going or not?”

“There were six other guys,” he replied. “I’m moving a little slow. Cut me some slack.”

Johnny’s sick feeling intensified. He’d never considered Kreese as the ‘family friend’ but of course Shannon would fall for his sob story. Panicked he ran towards them as Kreese unlocked a sleek black car.

“ROBBY!!!!”

Robby turned to look at him. “Dad?” He looked confused, then turned to look back at Kreese who shrugged and held up his hands as if to say it was Robby’s choice. Robby looked at him again, then back at Kreese and shook his head before getting in the car.

“ROBBY! WAIT! ROBBY!” He shouted. He looked at Kreese desperate to say something, anything, but the words wouldn’t come. Not Robby. Please not Robby. He just couldn’t get them out. This time Kreese shrugged at him, then shook his head before getting in the car and driving away.

John stood there, stunned. Of all the possibilities he could have imagined, Robby with Kreese was the last one his mind would have concocted, if for no other reason than that Kreese had been important to him which usually would have made Robby avoid him like the plague. He stood there, his mind still reeling. The way Robby had looked at him. He couldn’t forget it. It wasn’t anger or even disappointment. It was just confusion that he was there, then nothing, blank, as if he was nothing. As if he didn’t even know him. His son, _his son,_ had willingly left with John Kreese. He almost wished Robby had been angry, had shouted or even decked him. Nothing could feel worse than that blank look and shake of his head had. 

He stumbled back to the cab, dropping down in the seat.

“Where to?” The driver asked.

“I need a drink.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Kreese has Robby.”

“What?” Bobby was sure he had misheard Johnny.

“Robby,” Johnny repeated. “Kreese somehow finagled custody of him from Shannon and got him released on bail.”

“About time someone did,” Bobby replied.

“You think that’s a good thing?” Johnny snarled. “Do you think Kreese cares about him at all? This is just another ploy to get to me.”

“I don’t think it’s a good thing he’s with Kreese, but I’m not surprised,” Bobby snapped back. He looked away, then looked back. “Listen, Johnny, I’m about to tell you something you don’t want to hear, but you’re going to anyway.”

“Yeah, what’s that?” He scoffed.

“You have let that boy down at every turn. Losing your mom just weeks before he was born was hard, I know that. I know you were hurting. I know that Shannon didn’t just make it difficult but almost impossible for you to see him after you two broke up, but Johnny, that was sixteen years ago. You know, I used to think that it was just that you didn’t have it in you to be a father since you never had any example of that. You could do the fun weekends, pay child support, and Jimmy, Tommy, and I could pick up the slack where we could. But there is only so much we can do. He wants you. He’s always wanted you…,”

“He wants me so badly that he’s working with Kreese,” Johnny scoffed.

“Because Kreese was there,” Bobby snapped. “Get it through your head, Johnny. This isn’t some big planned betrayal to you from Robby. To plan that he'd have to know how bad Kreese was to you and he doesn't because you never told him. You never told him anything but the fun times and winning and how much you hated Daniel.”

“Then why did he go to him? He had to know. I'm sure LaRusso was only too happy to tell him everything about me getting choked out in a parking lot and needing him and his teacher to save me. Of all the people in the world, why him? This is just like his big plan to work for LaRusso to spite me,” Johnny replied,

“Kreese showed up at the detention center, Kreese went to court…,”

“Are you on that again? I told you something came up at the hospital,” he deflected. 

“And I’ve already told that isn’t an excuse,” Bobby replied. “That surgery takes up to six hours sometimes. You could have prayed with the family, stayed with them until things got started, then booked it down and saw Robby and make it back in plenty of time. He watched that door for two hours. Five minutes, that’s all it would have taken,” Bobby shook his head. 

“I went to see him,” Johnny said, softer.

“Yeah, at the homeless shelter, where you embarrassed him, berated him for fighting, like you’ve never been in to know what that was about, then threw it in his face that you putting Diaz over him is because of him, like you’re doing him some favor,” he countered.

“Yeah, I shouldn’t have done that. It just came out before I could stop it,” he admitted. “I screwed up. What do I do now? He won’t speak to me. He acts like he doesn’t even know me.”

“You fight, Johnny,” Bobby said. “It’s not going to be easy. You’re going to have to fight Robby and Kreese, but you have to keep fighting, no matter how hard it gets because if you give up this time, you won’t get another chance.”

——

_ Fight for Robby? _

That was something he’d never done before. Everyone had always told him not to. First, his mom, when Shannon had gotten upset with him and wouldn’t let him go to the ultrasound with her. “Don’t upset her. She’ll come around and a gynecologist’s office isn’t the place for the next showdown.’ Then the lawyers, ‘don’t argue with her, just document she wouldn’t let you have him and let us handle it’ only they never did, but let him miss a child support payment and they were knocking down his door for it. Most recently, it was the guys themselves, telling him that pissing Robby off wasn’t the way to get back in his good graces. The first person to tell him to fight back, not to wait for Robby to come around, was Kreese. Ironic, wasn’t it? Then it was Shannon, calling him from her fancy rehab, telling him that she’d told Robby to talk to him, and begging him to try to reach out to his son. Before he could, Robby had shown up at his door with LaRusso’s completely bombed daughter.

If he’d known what that was going to lead to, he’d have shut the door in their faces. No, he wouldn’t have done that, but he would have called LaRusso right away. Maybe if LaRusso had known from the start that Robby wasn’t the one who was drunk, he wouldn’t have kicked Robby out. Maybe if LaRusso hadn’t kicked Robby out of his life  _ again _ , Robby would have handled the news of Miguel kissing his girl better.

He didn’t know how to fight for Robby especially now. Was he supposed to barge over there and carrying the kid home kicking and screaming? How would that fix their relationship? He could say he was waiting for Robby to come to him again. It wouldn’t be long before he found out about Miguel and the LaRusso girl again. But even he knew that one time of Robby running to him for help wasn’t going to happen again and he didn’t blame him. Being there one time couldn’t undo a lifetime of stepping back and letting someone else handle the problem.

He could at least go look for him. Surely he couldn’t be with Kreese twenty-four hours a day. He’d stalk the skate parks and the beaches where he knew Robby hung out. He’d find him. It’d just take time. What else did he have to do anyway? Miguel was heading back to school and it wasn’t like he had any other students. Again.

He had almost hushed that nagging voice in his head, asking how the Diazs were going to like it when he brought Miguel’s attacker home to live next door as he grabbed his keys to head out. This would be easier if it had been anyone else fighting Miguel. But he couldn’t think of easier now, could he?

_ Could he? _

\----


End file.
